President Obama threatened last year, according to Middle Eastern news outlets Sunday, to use the U.S. military to shoot down Israeli fighter jets if they attempted to destroy Iranian nuclear facilities — reports the administration denounced later Sunday as flatly untrue. Mr. Obama’s threat reportedly deterred Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from dispatching warplanes into Iran after Israel discovered that the U.S. had entered into secret talks with Tehran and that the two countries had signed an agreement, according to Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida. In a statement to The Washington Times early Sunday evening, a senior administration said “that report is...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is enjoying a surge in the latest opinion polls of Israeli voters. The Jerusalem Post reports that its latest poll shows Bibi’s party, the Likud, is leading the race for the first time in weeks. Other polls agree, and show the Likud leading its rival, the Zionist Union, which is a combination of the Labor and Hatnua parties. The Post attributes Netanyahu’s improved showing to the cross-border conflict with Hezbollah, which attacked Israeli soldiers earlier this week, killing two. The attack was a retaliation, likely orchestrated by Iran, for Israel’s strike on a Hezbollah convoy...

As Iran allegedly negotiates an agreement with the P 5+1 with respect to its nuclear program, Israel's Channel 2 showed a satellite image (above) in which a new Iranian missile 'that can reach far beyond Europe' is shown. Iran has built a 27-meter-long missile, capable of delivering a warhead “far beyond Europe,” and placed it on a launch pad at a site close to Tehran, an Israeli television report said Wednesday, showing what it said were the first satellite images of the missile ever seen in the West. It stressed that the missile could be used to launch spacecraft or satellites, but also to...

Imposing deadlines for resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on Palestinian terms, including full Israeli withdrawal from all “occupied” territories within three years The United Nations Security Council was called into a special session on December 30, 2014 at the behest of the Palestinian Authority and its Arab Group supporters. The intent was for the Security Council to approve a resolution, submitted by the non-permanent Council member Jordan, imposing deadlines for resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on Palestinian terms, including full Israeli withdrawal from all “occupied” territories within three years. The Palestinians thought they had the necessary nine-vote majority to pass the resolution,...

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency guides its people how to enter and exit Israel through Ben-Gurion International Airport without blowing their cover during security checks, according to a secret document revealed by WikiLeaks Sunday night. The CIA document provides further evidence that Israel serves as a target for operations by the spy agency. The document, titled "CIA Assessment on Surviving Secondary Screening at Airports While Maintaining Cover" and dated September 2011, contains a long list of guidelines for operatives using false identities. According to the document, it is based on original intelligence reports, opinions and testimonies of CIA operatives collected...

Israeli planes bombed the area near Damascus international airport and the town of Dimas, the Syrian army said in a statement carried on state television. No casualties were reported. There has been no confirmation of the air strikes from Israel.

Israeli singer Amir Benayoun released a song Sunday about a theoretical Arab Israeli youth stabbing Jews, garnering accusations of racism as Israel copes with a wave of attacks by East Jerusalem residents. “It’s true that I am just ungrateful scum,” Benayoun sings in “Ahmed loves Israel.” “It’s true, but I am not guilty, I wasn’t brought up on love. It’s true that the moment will come when you will turn your back on me, and I’ll stab you right in the back.” In the song, one version of “Ahmed” lives in Jerusalem, studies at the Hebrew University, and is well-liked....

An Israeli woman, a resident of Coral Springs, Fla., for 15 years, was recently denied service and asked not to return again to a gas station ("On the Move Texaco" owned by J&L Services of Florida Inc.) that she had frequented over the years. On her most recent visit, a Palestinian employee of the gas station told her: “You guys are killers and your money is not welcome here." While the employee was not on the corporate side of the company, this incident, nonetheless, is another call for alarm among the Jewish population. Because of my concern about the statement,...

Both Obama and Netanyahu are denying it, however, but they could be expected to do nothing else, given the circumstances. The strongest indication of the authenticity of the transcript is its absolute believability, knowing what we know about Obama and his view of Israel. The transcript is here. “US and Israel deny report of harsh Obama-Netanyahu conversation,” by Ricky Ben-David, Lazar Berman and Ilan Ben Zion, Times of Israel, July 29, 2014 (thanks to Pamela Geller): …Netanyahu rejects PMO-POTUS call transcript The Prime Minister’s Office says in a statement that the Channel 1 report is false, using precisely the same...

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said her department was “deeply troubled” by Israel’s strike on a Gaza power plant, continuing an ongoing trend of Kerry’s State Department obliquely criticizing Israel’s actions. “We’re deeply troubled by the humanitarian impact of reduced electricity in Gaza,” Psaki told reporters, “particularly for emergency services, and urge all parties to respect the civilian nature of these facilities.”

“Once again, this Council fails to address the situation in Israel and in the Palestinian territories with any semblance of balance. There is no mention of indiscriminate rocket attacks by Hamas into Israel or the tunnels used to cause mayhem.” It is good to see someone from the Obama Administration actually speaking the truth about Israel. “U.N. launches probe into alleged Israeli crimes in Gaza,” by Stephanie Nebehay and Tom Miles, Reuters, July 23, 2014 (thanks to Kenneth): GENEVA, July 23 (Reuters) – The United Nations on Wednesday launched an international inquiry into human rights violations and crimes that may...

A Los Angeles man was one of the Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza this weekend as fighting intensified. Max Steinberg was a Woodland Hills native and voluntarily joined the Israel Defense Forces, according to the Jewish Journal. According to voter records, he was 24 years old. Steinberg graduated from El Camino Real high school in 2008, studied at Pierce College, joined the Israeli army in 2012 and was a sharpshooter in the Golani Brigade, his Facebook page says. It was unclear exactly how Steinberg died, but the Israeli military announced Sunday that 13 members of the Golani Brigade were killed...

Following yesterday's failed cease-fire, an Israeli naval gunboat has reportedly struck seven children near the port in Gaza, killing at least four. One remains in critical condition. Moments earlier, the kids had been playing soccer with a reporter from NBC, who witnessed the attack firsthand. Dozens of other journalists were nearby.

Israeli naval commandos fought Hamas gunmen in a dramatic beach front firefight on Sunday after Israel attempted the first boots-on-the ground operation of its ongoing offensive in Gaza. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, later warned that the military operation, that has so far killed 166 Palestinians, could gone on for a "long time". The early morning clash broke out after Hamas militants – alerted by a lookout stationed in a nearby mosque – intercepted Israeli special forces trying wade ashore at Sudaniya in northern Gaza. The two sides engaged each other in the sea, according to one witness account,...

I was busy washing dishes yesterday evening when all of a sudden I heard a wailing sound and doors slamming in my building. An air raid siren; the first in Tel Aviv since Operation Pillar of Defense back in November of 2012.

US Middle East peace envoy Martin Indyk has resigned following the collapse of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. A US official who spoke on condition of anonymity did not provide a reason for Indyk's departure, which had been widely expected after the two sides failed to meet their goal of reaching a comprehensive peace agreement this spring. Indyk will return to the Washington-based Brookings Institution think tank, the official said. US Secretary of State John Kerry confirmed on Friday that Indyk was leaving his post as top US envoy to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Kerry praised Indyk and thanked him for his...

n IDF Navy force opened fire Monday at a Palestinian Arab boats that strayed from the permitted zone in the waters off of southern Gaza. The boats were lightly damaged and two of the people aboard them were taken to questioning. Voice of Israel public radio adds that Gaza Arab media reported that two Palestinian fishermen suffered moderate injuries from shots fired at them by the Egyptian Navy, off of Rafah. It is not clear if the two reports refer to the same incident, or to two different ones. Gaza, which is controlled by a genocidal Islamist Hamas regime, shares...

Israeli officials denounced on Tuesday evening a report in Newsweek which said that American intelligence officials have linked the U.S. visa crisis to Israeli espionage. The report cited these American officials as saying in closed conversations that "Israel crosses the line for espionage in the United States." In response, Israeli officials told Kol Yisrael radio’s diplomatic affairs correspondent Chico Menashe that the report “smelled of anti-Semitism.” "The allegations of espionage in the U.S. are false. Israel is not spying there. The report in Newsweek smells of anti-Semitism, we are portrayed as an enemy country,” one official told Kol Yisrael. Another...

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday that Israel’s announcement of 700 new apartments for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem precipitated the bitter impasse in peace negotiations last week between Israel and the Palestinians. While Mr. Kerry said both sides bore responsibility for “unhelpful” actions, he noted that the publication of tenders for housing units came four days after a deadline passed for Israel to release Palestinian prisoners and complicated Israel’s own deliberations over whether to extend the talks. “Poof, that was sort of the moment,” Mr. Kerry said in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Still,...

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya´alon is apologizing for the second time in two months about critical statements he made against the U.S. government. In the wake of tremendous anger in Washington, a telephone call between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a personal talk with the prime minister, Ya´alon told his American counterpart, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, that there was no defiance, criticism or intention to hurt the United States or Israel´s relations with its ally with his words. Ya´alon said he sees utmost importance in the strategic relations between the countries, as...

The White House appeared to double down on its policy of engagement with Iran following Wednesday's dramatic pre-dawn high seas capture of an Iranian missile cache destined for Hamas by Israeli naval commandos. Senior administration officials worked quickly to prevent the raid from undermining public confidence in President Obama's continued belief that Iran is a trustworthy and reliable negotiating partner, even going so far as to claim credit for the raid themselves. Several dozen advanced medium range missiles were found hidden under false bottoms of phony shipping containers on board the Panamanian flagged "Klos-C" frigate seized in a dramatic pre...

Received by email: B'nai Brith Canada has learned from Canadian Jewish tourists aboard a Norwegian Jade cruise ship that Israeli tourists have been denied the right to disembark when the ship dropped anchor at the Port of Tunis, Tunisia. As passengers began preparations to visit the country, Israelis on board were quietly told that they were not welcomed by the Tunisian Government and would have to remain onboard. According to some Jewish passengers no prior notice was issued, either in writing or by public announcement. The cruise line also failed to advise passengers in advance that Israeli tourists would...

One day ahead of his meeting Monday with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, U.S. President Barack Obama is urging the Israeli leader to make peace with the Palestinian Authority (PA). Speaking to Bloomberg’s Jeffrey Goldberg in an interview published Sunday, Obama warned that time was running out to negotiate a peace agreement. Obama further claimed that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas “is sincere about his willingness to recognize Israel and its right to exist.” “We are coming to a point, though, over the next couple of months where the parties are going to have to make some decisions about how they move...

German-Israeli relations are at a nadir as German Chancellor Merkel begins her third term. When leaders of the countries meet next week, deals on smaller issues may be possible, but divisions over Israeli settlements will persist. […] Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman—with whom (German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter) Steinmeier already had a tepid relationship—read out a laundry list of complaints to his colleague from Berlin. It even included lesser issues, like research and scientific cooperation, an area in which Israel claims Germany is imposing unacceptable conditions. Lieberman said Berlin often hides behind European Union positions rather than presenting its own views....

John Kerry invoked his Vietnam War service to push back against an Israeli cabinet member who criticized his recent comments on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. During a security conference in Munich last weekend, Kerry suggested that if his Israeli-Palestinian peace effort fails, there could be serious consequences for Israel. “For Israel there is an increasing delegitimizing campaign that has been building up,” Kerry said, without condemning the effort. “People are very sensitive to it. There are talks of boycotts and other kinds of things.” In response, Israel’s economy minister Naftali Bennett harshly criticized Kerry’s failure to speak out against the...

Two of the largest banks in northern Europe have announced they will boycott Israeli banks because they operate in Â“occupied territoriesÂ”, the Walla! Hebrew-language news website reported on Saturday. The two banks in question are the Swedish Nordea Bank, which is the largest bank in Scandinavia, and the Norwegian Danske Bank, which is the largest bank in Denmark. Danske Bank, which serves five â€‹â€‹million customers in Denmark and Northern Europe , publishes on its website a list of companies which are boycotted for legal and ethical reasons. Two weeks ago the list was updated and, according to Walla!, for the...

Tens of thousands of people in Yarmouk, mostly palestinians, have been besieged for months by Syrian government forces, with little access to food and medicine. The below video was taken in Yarmouk and posted to YouTube Palestinian In Damascus: “We Do Not Want Palestine..We Ask For Israeli Citizenship” Posted by: Aussie Dave in Aussie Dave January 26, 2014 4 Comments 156 Views Tens of thousands of people in Yarmouk, mostly palestinians, have been besieged for months by Syrian government forces, with little access to food and medicine. The below video was taken in Yarmouk and posted to YouTube . It’s...

A group representing 5,000 U.S. professors has endorsed an academic boycott of Israeli colleges and universities. The American Studies Association says it voted for the boycott "as an ethical stance." "It represents a principle of solidarity with scholars and students deprived of their academic freedom and an aspiration to enlarge that freedom for all, including Palestinians," a Dec. 4 statement said. According to The New York Times, which reported the boycott Monday, the action — the first time the group has called for an academic boycott of any nation's universities — makes the group the largest of its kind to...

The British government tried to cover its tracks. But a new cache of documents Robert Spencer and I have received in our battle to overturn our being banned from Britain reveal that a chief reason why we were banned from the country was because we strongly support Israel. As part of our lawsuit against the Queen of England and the Home Secretary et al, we have received numerous documents between the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Office of Security and Counterterrorism, and the Home Secretary. In one of them, an official in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office whose name was...

Iran’s envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) slammed Israel on Friday, accusing the Jewish state of attacking its neighbors and committing atrocities. "Israel, sitting on 200 nuclear warheads all of them targeted at Muslim cities ... is crying wolf about nuclear proliferation,” the envoy, Reza Najafi, told the UN nuclear agency. “This regime (has) a long history of aggression against neighbors, atrocity against peoples under occupation and clandestine development of all kinds of” weapons of mass destruction, he declared in the comments quoted by The Associated Press (AP). In response, Joseph Macmanus, the chief U.S. delegate to the...

Hasan Faraji, 31, was arrested by Azerbaijani police after displaying “suspicious behavior” while wandering around the Israeli embassy in Baku on October 31. Faraji, who resisted arrest, was sentenced to 30 days of administrative detention, according to the APA news agency. According to Channel 10, Faraji is a part of the Iranian Quds Forces, a special unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard that, among other oles, is tasked with planning and executing terrorist attacks against Israeli targets overseas. On Thursday an Iranian diplomat said Faraji denies he was planning any attack... Iranian embassy officials met Faraji in custody... Azerbaijani police raided...

Survey indicates backing drops even further if US opposed to move; second poll reveals majority of Americans favor deal with Tehran Slightly fewer than half of Israelis back the use of a military option against Iran’s nuclear program, with the number dropping even further should the US not lend support for such an action, a poll released Thursday night showed. At the same time, a separate poll among US citizens showed growing support for a diplomatic deal with Tehran. The Israeli poll, commissioned by Channel 2 political anchor Nissim Mishal, showed 49.1 percent of Israelis backing a last-resort military strike...

Obama administration official confirms to CNN that Israel attacked missiles and equipment it felt might be transferred to Hezbollah; Al-Arabiya reports Israel destroyed SA-8 missiles in Damascus and Latakia. Israel conducted air raids against a Syrian missile base near the port city of Latakia early on Thursday, according to an anonymous US administration official. The official, speaking to CNN, said Israel targeted missiles and related equipment out of concern that they would be transferred to Hezbollah. It is unclear why the US would leak such information, as it could increase the pressure on Syria to retaliate against Israel.

(CNN) -- Israeli warplanes struck a military base near the Syrian port city of Latakia on Thursday, an Obama administration official told CNN. An explosion at a missile storage site in the area was widely reported in the Israeli press, but an attack has not been confirmed by the Israeli government. The target, according to the Obama administration official, was missiles and related equipment the Israelis felt might be transferred to the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah. The official declined to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the information. When asked for comment, an Israel Defense Forces spokeswoman told...

IDF soldiers recently discovered a tunnel, built by Gaza terrorists, that led from Gaza to a nearby Israeli community. The discovery was made late Wednesday night, but was under a gag order until Sunday morning. Terrorists were apparently planning a large-scale infiltration and attack, and were possibly planning to bring Israeli civilians back to Gaza as captives. Terrorists have made several attempts to kidnap Israelis in recent months, with the goal of exchanging captives for terrorists being held in Israeli prisons. A terror tunnel similar to that found Wednesday night was used in the 2006 kidnapping of IDF soldier Gilad...

A 9-year-old Israeli girl was injured Saturday night in a suspected terrorist attack at the West Bank settlement of Psagot, outside Ramallah. The girl, who was playing in the yard outside her home, said she was shot by a gunman at very close range; confusingly, doctors said later that they had not established whether her wounds were caused by a shooting or a stabbing. The girl, who did not lose consciousness, was reported in light-to-moderate condition by doctors at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek medical center. It was “not clear” whether she had been shot or stabbed, said Dr. Danny Fink. Security...

JERUSALEM—The red line drawn by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding Iran’s nuclear program has been rendered obsolete by technology, according to Israeli officials who are pushing for a concerted new effort to block Iran’s possible acquisition of nuclear weapons. Netanyahu warned in his address to the United Nations General Assembly last year that if Iran enriches 250 kilograms of uranium to a level of 20 percent it would be in position to make a secret dash for nuclear weapon production before the international community could stop it. Netanyahu then hinted at Israeli military action if Iran tried it. Although...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed the Israeli delegates to boycott Iranian President Hassan Rohani during his address Tuesday at the UN General Assembly in New York. Netanyahu´s office said that the prime minister had instructed the Israeli envoy to walk out of the assembly during Rouhani´s speech as done last year during former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad´s address. "Despite Iran´s charm offensive, the government´s policy in Tehran toward Israel has not changed," Netanyahu said. Netanyahu added that Iran´s diplomatic overtures to the West over its disputed nuclear program were aimed at allowing Tehran to continue to pursue atomic weapons.

Israeli aircraft struck a terror target south of Beirut, Lebanon, on Thursday night, said the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. According to the statement, a direct hit was identified and all aircraft returned safely to their bases. The IDF statement said that the airstrike came in response to Thursday afternoon’s rocket attack from Lebanon at northern Israel. "Yesterday's attack is a blatant breach is Israeli sovereignty that jeopardized Israeli civilian life. Israel will not tolerate terrorist aggression originating from Lebanese territory. The IDF will continue to operate to safeguard the State of Israel and its civilians," said the statement. Four rockets were...

Israeli and Palestinian Authority negotiators on Tuesday night concluded a third meeting as part of the renewed peace talks between the sides. The meeting, reportedly held at an undisclosed location in Jerusalem, was described as “serious”. The sides agreed to meet again soon. As usual, Israel was represented at the meeting by Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s envoy Yitzhak Molcho. The PA side was represented by chief negotiator Saeb Erekat and Mohammed Shtayeh. The late evening meeting, which ended shortly before midnight, was the second meeting of the day between the sides. Earlier Tuesday, a senior...

Israeli and Jewish targets all over the world are likely to be sought out by terrorist organizations in the coming weeks, the Israeli government’s Counter-Terrorism Bureau warned in strikingly strident tones on Monday, listing dozens of countries where it said it had “concrete” indications of a terrorist threat. It cited concerns about terrorist acts timed to coincide with the forthcoming Rosh Hashana (New Year), Yom Kippur and Succot festivals, and also said that the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US was likely to be “a favored period” for al-Qaeda and other global jihadist groups to attempt to...

President Obama's nominee to be ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, is a late convert to the pro-Israel cause, but today she promised to fiercely advocate for the Jewish state, including fighting to help Israel obtain a nonpermanent seat on the U.N. Security Council. Power, a close confidante of President Barack Obama and a former top White House official, received a warm welcome today at her confirmation hearing to replace Susan Rice as the U.S. permanent representative to the U.N. But senators pressed Power on her previous statements that caused a rift between her and elements of the pro-Israel...

Saudi Arabian Airlines reportedly is discriminating against Israeli citizens by refusing to let them fly from U.S. airports. The New York Post reported that for customers booking on online, the airline’s website has no drop-down menu options for anyone holding an Israeli passport, even though, as the Post pointed out, there is a drop-down menu option for Antarctica citizens. The airline appears to prevent passengers simply looking to transfer in Saudi Arabia to another country, as well. “No city in the world has closer ties to Israel than we do, and yet Israeli citizens are being discriminated against right here...

The New York Post reported that for customers booking on online, the airline’s website has no drop-down menu options for anyone holding an Israeli passport, even though, as the Post pointed out, there is a drop-down menu option for Antarctica citizens. The airline appears to prevent passengers simply looking to transfer in Saudi Arabia to another country, as well. -------- When a member of de Blasio called the airline --trying to book a ticket from JFK to Mumbai, India -- identifying themselves as an Israeli passport holder, the caller was told by an agent that they would not be able...

TEL AVIV — Israel has blocked exports of unmanned aerial vehicles for foreign militaries. Industry sources said the Israeli Defense Ministry vetoed requests by major companies for UAV exports. They said the proposed exports stemmed from political pressure by the United States. Israel’s business daily Globes said the UAV deals affected such producers as the state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries, Elbit Systems and Aeronautics Defense. Globes said the restrictions imposed by the Defense Ministry was dampening UAV and other military exports.